The comic artwork of Ryan Claytor.

Welcome back to another surprise interview with one of our Top 10 Colorists. Recently, I contacted Dean White to ask him a few questions for this late breaking interview.

Justin Giampaoli: Dean, thanks for agreeing to an interview for our “10 Best Colorists” countdown this year! Can you start with an overview of your background and education? How’d that lead you into coloring and shape your style?

Dean White: Same as a lot of people. [I] drew from an early age. I grew up in Pomona, California. We were poor but was lucky in that I was able to start working at 12 with my dad in construction. Would work after school, weekends and vacations. This allowed me to buy stuff that my parents could not afford and to pay for school. I went to school for a while and studied illustration/fine Arts, came out to the real world and bounced around doing various art jobs. An illustration here. Fine art shows there, while teaching at a small studio in Claremont, California. I was showing some painted pages and illustrations around San Diego and Brian Haberlin, who was with Top Cow at the time, saw something in them and had me come up to their offices. At that time Top Cow was on the Third St Promenade in Santa Monica. For years I was coloring in the standard style but always felt I was fighting it. I remember one day just saying to hell with it and started coloring closer to how I painted. I was scared because I was just throwing away all the tools I was comfortable using and trying to find my own way. That led to working on Punisher Max with Ennis and Lawrosa, which at the time had its own look. Then working with greats, John Romita Jr, Klaus Janson and Tom Palmer was another eye opener. Learning to focus on big shapes and the power they have. Recently I was coming off of a year where I felt unhappy with my work. Getting assigned to Uncanny X-Force and working with Jerome allowed me to rethink my approach to coloring and reinvigorate myself.

Here is pg 2 from Uncanny X-Force 18. Pencils [are] from Jerome Opena, then I take over and add the grey tones and the whites, then the final colors.

Justin Giampaoli: What was the first comic you worked on, your “break-in book,?” if you will, and what did you learn from those early experiences?

Dean White: My first book was on the original Weapon Zero mini-series for Top Cow. I learned Photoshop working on it. Comics were just starting to be colored with Photoshop at the time. A lot of us at the different image studios were trying to figure it out and learn how to color comics with it.

Justin Giampaoli: What other artists or colorists have influenced your style? Who do you look to for artistic inspiration?

Dean White: No one person in particular, but inspired by a lot of the great work I see going on in and around comics and entertainment. Rico Renzi for example on Loose Ends recently just killed it. I look at a lot of paintings like Sargent, NC and Andrew Wyeth, Richard Schmid, Craig Mullins and more. The more I paint and draw from life the easier coloring is for me.

Justin Giampaoli: For those readers who are interested in the more technical aspects of your process, can you describe it for us? What tools do you use?

Dean White: Covers or single images, the focus is on how to make that one image great. The basics are coming up with one dominant color for the image then figuring out what the big shapes of the picture are. If there is a group of people standing together against a building(s) with some kind of background behind that then the people are graphically one big shape. The building(s) are the second and then the background is another big shape. Think of it almost as paper cut outs for each shape/area. Grouping in big shapes helps to hold your picture together and not turn into a giant mess of random colors, shapes and highlights. Plus it can add a dynamic abstract pattern to the image. A lot of people may not notice it at first but it does add to the picture.

When working on a comic story, first I read the script and look at pencils (if they are available) to get a sense of where the physical and emotional conflicts are. Then [I] use that as my guide [for] how to start building my colors. First, I tend to lay out one flat color for each panel. If it is a quiet panel then I tend to use a color that relates to that, and if the panel is action-packed then I build a color around that. Once I have a feel for the story and my colors are working with the story’s intent, then I proceed similar to how I build a cover.

I look at coloring comics as juggling three ideas: one is that the page is in itself a graphic element that needs to read as one image, second [is that the page] is akin to animation, where each panel and scene are one cut to the next and everything is moving, then third that it is a stage play, that all three have to work together. Of course all of this is with the understanding that a lot of the time you are under extreme time deadlines and people are worrying about getting the book out. I have had deadlines where I have had 10 minutes to do a page and others a couple of days for a page. All colorist have this and usually someone calling or emailing them constantly asking for pages. It is much more stressful than a lot of people think. In the end you do the best with the time you have and hope you help the artwork and not mess it up. I have done both.

Mostly I use Photoshop to color comics. On occasion I use traditional paints such as on the Logan miniseries with Eduardo Risso. I hand-painted those in watercolors and then scanned them back in. [These next few images are] pages 1-3 from the Logan mini. They were done in watercolors.

Justin Giampaoli: Can you describe your collaboration with Jerome Opena on Uncanny X-Force? His line can be very thin and delicate at times, so it seems like you?d have to tread fairly lightly, but the end result is absolutely bold. You guys seem like a perfect team.

Dean White: I tend to do the opposite and be very strong with Jerome and draw on top of his art with lines in photoshop to sync up with his lines, then color them. It is a weird dichotomy in that I believe you have to make it yours but at the same time stay true to the intent of the pencils. When it really works it becomes its own thing. No longer pencils/inks and color, just a page of Art. I approach working with Esad the same way. Other projects you are a lot more in the Background. It depends on what the project and the people working on it want. I always show the work to the pencillers and the rest of the crew before it is sent off to make sure all the collaborators are fine with it. Just want to say Jerome is a great guy and a blast to work with.

Justin Giampaoli: I don’t think I can recall a book with such intense “mood swings” as UXF. It goes from visceral action, to very somber emotion in a heartbeat. For example, all those retro flashbacks, or the psychic fantasy life that Betsy gives Warren in issue #18. Can you talk about how you approach the title and keep aesthetic pace with such a wide range of story tones?

Dean White: I live for stories like Uncanny X-Force. Playing up the emotions of a scene are very important to me. Rick Remember is just writing a fantastic script. I try to design my colors around the mood of the script and how the penciler interprets it, building the colors towards the climax. On UXF normal scenes are played more straight but as a scene becomes more intense I start shifting the colors to more extremes or towards one color scheme. People are standing apart I might use normal colors then when they clutch each other as they kiss colors have lots of reds and pinks in them. It is the music score getting louder in an emotional scene then quieter as it calms down. It is all about story and intent. I feel it is wrong on a book like UXF to go with nothing but bold color designs just for the sake of having fun with color. You really need to drive home the reality of what the comic is trying to achieve. Nothing against bold color designs, some of my favorite books to look at are like that. The color design just has to fit the book.

This page shows how I receive the pencils then try to decide how to play the scene with colors. The middle panels link together with color and tone to really drive home how hard this is for Betsy. Graphically I played the top and bottom panels off against the middle ones. For me I see it flat and also spatially and hopefully you feel her despair but also we flip the colors in the last panel and feel her being hit.

Justin Giampaoli: From what I read online, Uncanny X-Force is very well received across the board, Rick Remender, Jerome Opena, and the whole crew are finally being recognized for contributing something special. How does that feel?

Dean White: It feels great. The whole team, from the editors on down, has really believed in the book and tried to make a comic we believed in. We lost one of the team this year in editor Judy Leheup. Times being what they are, Marvel had to let some people go and Jody was one of them. I miss that guy a lot. He really was a huge part of the book creatively. Luckily for us we have Nick Lowe there to step in. Thanks, Nick.

Justin Giampaoli: Are you staying on for the foreseeable future? I’m seeing ads for Rafael Grampa on covers and Robbie Rodriguez interiors on the next arc.

Dean White: That is the plan. I skip 19.1 and jump over to 20 with Greg Tocchini (because of double shipping and needing an issue off). 20 is done and I’m working on 21 right now.

Justin Giampaoli: Is there a particular piece of your work, an issue or a run on a title, that you’re most proud of, or think showcases your talent the best?

Dean White: I do not know. The pieces that tend to stand out to me are ones that I felt I was pushing myself. Punisher Max, Black Panther, Logan, Kick Ass, Ucanny X-Force and Ultimates.

[This is an] oldy but a goody. First time I worked with Jrjr and Klaus Janson. Axel Alonso called me and pitched me coloring John and Klaus and at first I almost said no. John was usually colored in a way that worked great but I had not interest and copying others and could not see how to color him and Klaus in a way that I felt comfortable with. I went for a walk with my newborn baby boy and about halfway on the walk could see how to do it. This was our first run together. Some of my favorite times have been coloring John and Klaus.

Justin Giampaoli: Do you have any interest in penciling or even writing comics, or have you found your groove as a colorist?

Dean White: I will be coloring for a while still, but I will be doing more artwork that is my own over the next year or so. I am working on a story for late next year. I am writing and painting it. It is something that has been in my head for a long time now. [I] also want to get back to painting in the next couple of years as well. Just trying to improve as an artist and be the best I can be at that time.

Justin Giampaoli: What other projects are you working on that fans might want to seek out?

Dean White: Ultimates with Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, which is another book that I am having a blast on. Back full time on that with issue 7. Working with Esad has been another of those moments where it kicks you in the head and you have to approach things from a new perspective. Very challenging but rewarding.

[These next two pages are] Ultimates Comics, Ultimates 1 page 4. When I finished this page I thought, “Yeah, I can see Esad Ribic and I working real well together.” Esad is a great artist and guy to work with. He gets the challenges of coloring which is really nice. On this page I flipped the warm and cool dynamics from the first panel in the last panel. In the first panel, Thor is cool while the BG is warm, then switched that in the last panel where Captain Britain and his corps are warm and the BG cool.

Justin Giampaoli: Lastly, part of the reason Ryan and I have been enjoying producing this series of posts on colorists is to highlight their seemingly undervalued contributions. That said, what is your personal philosophy about the role of a colorist? Why is it important to draw attention to your craft?

Dean White: I think of coloring as the soundtrack to a book. [Coloring] needs to enhance the pencils/inks, to work with it [and] not distract from it. But coloring is changing and broadening. The amount of finish and polish I am called on to do recently is more than in the past. This seems to be true of other colorists I see out there as well. The gamut now goes from flat color to digital painting and all in-between.

Justin Giampaoli: Thanks again for participating, Dean. I just want to say that I’m very moved by your work, and I think you’ve definitely earned your place in our league of ’10 Best Colorists’ alongside some of the other greats in the business.

Dean White: Very humbled by that. All I can say is thanks. [I] also think it is great that you have done this series. [T]hanks a lot for doing it. [If] anyone has any questions feel free to ask me on twitter @DeanWhiteColor and I post work on http://deanwhite.deviantart.com/.

Thanks for giving Dean White accolades and doing this interview! I’m pretty naive about coloring, but White’s work on UXF and Ultimates has me drooling and wishing to learn more. The interview was very insightful. Please Marvel, give artists like White, Opena, and Ribic all the opportunity to do their incredible luscious work and you will earn more and more of my comic book dollars!

Bdreg: That’s all Justin. As I said before, I feel like I’ve got some catching up to do with regard to Dean’s work. Now that the holidays have come and gone, I’ll be searching out some UXF trade paperbacks!